Local folks reach out to aid others after storm

Here's one positive thing left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy: Unsung heroes.

BY JEREMIAH HORRIGAN

Here's one positive thing left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy: Unsung heroes.

The mid-Hudson has more than you can count. And they've collected and delivered untold tons of goods to folks still suffering from Sandy's onslaught.

In New Paltz, a single e-mail among friends sparked a massive community effort that brought in — and delivered — tons of goods over the weekend.

Carol Connolly, assistant to Town Supervisor Susan Zimet, has relatives whose homes and businesses in the downstate Broad Channel, Queens, area were destroyed by the storm.

When the e-mail went viral on Facebook, Connolly got a bigger response than she ever could have imagined: at least 50 cars and trucks loaded with sundry items collected during a two-day grass-roots effort.

If you drove past Town Hall on Saturday or Sunday, you could see the result: SUVs jammed to the gunwales with clothes and canned goods, people lugging boxes and bags in and out of the building, pick-ups with mountains of stuff bungee-corded to their beds, going to help downstate residents.

Connolly says she can still hardly believe what happened. "I've gotten calls from as far away as Texas," offering to help, she said Monday.

It was the same story across the region: people reaching out, unbidden, to help others.

In Sullivan County, volunteer firefighters in White Lake, who have spent the week helping locals deal with power outages, also spearheaded an effort to raise goods and money for downstate storm victims. On Monday, they packed a 24-foot trailer with food, clothing and water for distribution in Staten Island.

"Even though we were cold and out of power, we still have our homes to go back to," fire commissioner Robert Yakin said. "There were people a lot worse off than we are."

In Orange County, seven volunteers from Walden Engine 238, Orange Hose Company #1 provided 72 hours of mutual aid in Long Island's Island Park last week.

The crew, according to Fire Chief Robert Lynn, was among the first volunteer firefighters to leave their homes and help downstate residents.